Remembering The Forgotten Poem by Lone Dog

(re the American soldiers maimed in Iraq)


We honour dead soldiers with flags at half mast
And three gun salutes. Their names are broadcast.
But what of the maimed who struggle with canes,
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane?

We don't hail them as heroes nor rush to their aid,
Nor acknowledge the great sacrifices they've made.
We don‟ t mention their numbers nor broadcast their names,
And our heads turn away as they're helped from the plane.

The maimed know there's something far worse than their death,
And many would rather have breathed their last breath.
Our dead are true heroes, but their suffering is o'er.
`Tis the armless and legless who suffer still more.